MILW boxcar question - 156000 series

[nkalanaga]

I have an N scale MDC/Roundhouse FMC centered double door boxcar, lettered for the MILW, road number 156006.  So far I haven't been able to find a picture of the prototype.

1:   Did the MILW ever have a boxcar numbered 156006?

2:   If they did, when was it built/acquired? 

3:   If they did, how close is the MDC model to the prototype?

Thank you.

[Missaberoad]

Thats the blue one?

They were prototypical but they were acquired late. I'm on vacation away from my books but i think 79/80.
If noone else chimes in when I get home I'll see if I can get a more concrete answer.

[wcfn100]

I looked in my July '80 ORER and there's no reference to them yet.


Jason

[nkalanaga]

No, the model is yellow, with black billboard lettering and the "America's Resourceful Railway" slogan.  They may have been painted blue in later years, but since I can't find a photo, that's just a guess.

Jason:  If it isn't in the July 1980 ORER then it's certainly too modern for my 1974 railroad.  Thank you!

[wazzou]

That car number isn't in the 1st Qtr. 1982 ORER either.

[tom mann]

I'll look in my Morning Sun guide later on today, but the only late model yellow boxcar that I recall would be from SEICO.

[Missaberoad]

I'll look in my Morning Sun guide later on today, but the only late model yellow boxcar that I recall would be from SEICO.

This... The only 50' boxcar at least...

The boxcars in question were never in yellow, only in blue with white reporting marks, no logos. Im certain they were post embargo, maybe even Soo line era...

I have a post 1980's boxcar book at home will check it when i get there... I remember seeing them somewhere...

[Kisatchie]

The boxcars in question were never in yellow, only in blue with white reporting marks, no logos.

Hmm... you mean MDC
made a foobie? My world
is destroyed...

[nkalanaga]

Another odd thing is that it came with the weights painted out, in black, and restenciled, as though it had been around long enough to be reweighed. 

Oh well, I can always strip and repaint it for my lumber company.  FMC used the non-terminating ends as early as 1972, so the body is at least plausible foe a 1974 car.

Dee: I'm not surprised.  Most N scale manufacturers have made a lot of foobies, simply because the market is too small to justify tooling every car body ever made.  I'm actually surprised that MDC made as many variations of the FMC 50 ft car as they did.  As with the KD/MT PS-1s, the models may have flaws, but in many cases they're the only option for a particular door arrangement.

Modeling the BN, I'm really surprised that IM made the GN 12-panel 40 ft cars.  Even with the SP, SP&S, and D&RGW versions, that's definitely a small-market body style.

[cjm413]

FMC 5283, built 1975, to BAR in 1977



Use the FVM FMC 5283 with an ESM Hydra-Cushion underframe.

[bman]

I own a few of the Roundhouse cars still in boxes never assembled.  Found them cheap at one of the LHS's  that buys collections from time to time.  I searched the web and never found a proto photo online of a MILW car in that blue paint.  Packed them away for future use to paint for another road or a home road should I ever decide to finally come up with one.  So before I go on safari and find what box these are in(I move too much) is the Roundhouse car close enough for a reasonable stand in or is that wishful thinking?  Painting these out into BAR is very very tempting.

[nkalanaga]

It depends on how picky you are.  If you have the cars, and aren't too picky, they would work as a stand-in.  If you're a prototype modeler, then no.

The MDC car has six panels each side of the doors, the prototype has seven.

The ends are basically the same, but the ladder posts on the MDC shell don't reach all the way to the long horizontal handrail.  Either way is prototypical, but the model doesn't match this prototype.

The end notch in the side sill on the MDC car extends past the bolster, while the BAR car has a notch just long enough for the stirrup.

There are probably other details that a true boxcar expert would notice, but those are what caught my eye.  Since you have the car, and have no other use for it, I'd say give it a try.  All you'll lose is a little time and an unused freight car.

[milw156]

I posed this question to MDC a LONG time ago and was told that the scheme was taken from the FMC catalog. Don't recall ever sing one or even a picture of one until the above post.
Rick